Centrifugal casting machine



I w. T. JANNEY CENTRIFUGAL CASTING MAUI-I1 NE Filed Sept. 13, 922 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 4 1924.

W. T. JANNEY CENTRIFUGAL CASTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 13, 1922 2Shees-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 4, 1924.

rrao s'rA'rEs WALTER 'I. JANNEY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CENTRIFUGAL CASTING MACHINE.

Application filed September 13, 1922. Serial No. 587,993.

To all whom it may; concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER T. JANNEY, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain,.new and useful Improvements inCentrifugal Casting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to centrifugal casting machines in which therevoluble mold is movable relatively to its support, and is yieldinglyheld in operative position thereon by compressed air. The device isrelated tothe constructions set forth in my pending applications Nos.573,019, 580,162.

My object is to employ compressed air for yieldingly holding the mold inits operative position, so as to adequately take care of the expansionand contraction which inevitably take place in a'mold of this characterwhen in use.

Another object is to provide means for the employment of the air whichpresses the,

mold for also cooling the mold during the casting operation.

Other objects will appear in the subjoined description.

An important feature of the invention consists of a revoluble baskethaving a lid rigidly held thereon against outward movement; and a moldcarried inside the basket; and means including compressed air foryieldingly holding the mold in engagement with the lid. 7

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction andarrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is asectional view of my device.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the plunger.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of Fig. 2, looking toward the right.

Fig. 4 is a front-end elevation of the device.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the lid of the device.

- illustrated in Figs. 1, 7 and 8. r

In my construction herein shown, instead of the lid being held on themold, as is ordinarily the case, the mold is yieldingly held against thelidis held in a casing which serves as a guide for its movements. sothat when a horizontal mold is standing still, the mold will have nodisposition to move out ofengagement withthe lid, but even if it did,the fact that the mold has guided movement relatively to the lid, wouldcause it to move back into proper engagement therewith whether pressedbycompressed air, spring force, centrifugal force, or any,

other force whatsoever: so that the great advantage of having astationary lid cooperating with a movable mold becomes very apparent.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates a housing having alarge central opening 2 at its forward end, and at its inner end anintegral sleeve into which is cast a long bearing 4, which supports ahollow shaft 5, having at its inner end inside the housing 1, a heavyflange 6, and beyond the sleeve 3 of the housing, a pulley 7 rigidlyheld thereon. A basket 8 is rigidly held on the flange 6 by stud bolts9, and loosely fitting inside this basket is a mold cup 10 which servesas a container for the two halves of the split die or mold 11, it beingunderstood, of course, that the die may be divided into more than twosections if desired.

A lid 12 holds the cup 10 and the die 11 in the basket 8. The lid isprovided on its inner side with an annular inclined face 13, and thebottom of the cup 10 has a correspondingly inclined face 14. The twoends of the sectional mold or die are frustoconical in shape with theirannular inclined faces 15 and 16 adapted to fit the annular inclinedfaces 13 and 14 of the cup 10 and the lid 12.

The length of the die relatively to the depth ofthe cup is always suchthat the cup and lid cannot quite touch each other.

When compressed air is admitted into the hollow shaft 5, the piston 21presses the cup 10 outwardly, and with it the sectional die 11, which inturn presses the lid into engagement with the lugs 18 at the open end ofthe basket 8.

The lid 12 is provided with a central opening 12 and annular slots 17the exterior diameter of which is equal to the interior diameter of thecasting 11*,t0 be formed.

5 The basket is provided with four inwardly extending lugs 18 behindwhich the four outwardly projecting lugs 19 are received, as moreclearly illustrated in Fig. 4.

The opening in the hollow shaft 5 is suitably enlarged at its inner endto receive the plunger 20 which hasla piston 21 at its inner end and asmaller piston 22 at its outer end provided with longitudinal slots 23'(see Figs. 2 and 3). The stem of the plunger 20 carries a compressionspring 24: which is received around said stem between the small piston22 and the thrust plate 23 which is rigidly secured to the shaft 5 whichhas a central opening 25 adapted to snugly receive said stem 20, bywhich arrangement the plunger has imparted to it by the spring atendency to always move outwardly.

A stationary compressed air pipe 26 carried by a support 27 extends intothe outer end of the, hollow shaft 5, and is suitably packed at 28 toprevent the escape of air. This pipe 26 connects with a source of supplyof compressed air, and is controlled by a valve 29, having a turn plug29*.

In order that a continuous current of air may pass around the mold cup10 during the casting operation, to cool the same, I pro-' vide one ormore small bores 30 in the pis-' ton 21. When the machine is stoppedthese bores also serve for the-quick release of any compressed air thatmight otherwisebe imprisoned in the hollow shaft 5, and thus permitthepressure to be quickly removed from against the lid when the machineis stopped, so that the lid can be easily removed The easy and quickremoval of the lid provided for in my device, permits the machine to beoperated, time after time/in rapid succession.

The thickness of the wall of the casting is determined by the positionof the curved slots 17, so that only a differently slotted lid isnecessary to produce a casting with a thicker or a thinner wall.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protectby Letters Patent is 1. In centrifugal casting machines, a revolublebasket open at its front end; a mold .JBCBlVGd into the basket; a lidheld at the open end of the basket, the mold being movable relatively tothe lid; a plunger for pressing the mold into engagement with the lid;means for operating the plunger with compressed air, saidparts havingmeans for the escape of a portion of the compressed air1 (into therevoluble basket to cool the mo in communication with the bottom of the;

mold; a plunger mounted in said chamber to move toward and from themold; a spring for normally pressing the plunger in a direction awayfrom the mold; means for introducing compressed air into the chamberbehind the plunger for overcoming the force of the spring and yieldinglypressing the plunger against the mold, the device being providedwithmeans for relieving the air pressure in the chamber behind the plungerwhen the air supply is cut off, whereby to permit the opposing spring topromptly retract the plunger.

3. In centrifugal casting machines, a revoluble basket; amold held inthe basket and movable relatively thereto, said basket having a chamberat the rear side thereof in communication with the bottom of the mold; aplunger mounted in said chamber to move toward and from the mold; aspring fornormally pressing the plunger in a direction away from themold; means for introducing compressed air into the chamber behind theplunger for overcoming the force of the spring and yieldingly pressingthe plunger against the mold, the device being provided with an openingbetween the interior of the basket and the portion of theplunger-chamber behind the plunger.

4. In centrifugal casting machines, a revoluble basket open at its frontend; a mold received into the basket; a lid held at the open end of thebasket, the mold being movcommunication with theinterior of the ba'-ketpa plunger mounted in said chamber to move toward and from the mold;a stationary pipe adapted to be connected at its outer end with a sourceof supply of compressed air, and entered attits lnner end into saidhollow shaft to introduce compressed air to the plunger; and a packingbox at the outer end of therevolving shaft surrounding the inner end ofsaid stationary pipe to form an air-tight connection between the two,said plunger having an opening therethrough for the escape of a portionof the compressed air into the revoluble basket to cool the mold.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WALTER T. JANNEY.

